USSA Launches New Revenue, Marketing Direction

Fri, Apr  23, 2010 - By US Ski Team

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), fresh from the Vancouver Olympics where 17 athletes won 21 medals, announced a new direction in the management of marketing and revenue to support athletic programs. Tuesday, USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt named Andrew Judelson, a highly accomplished sports marketing executive, to the newly-created position of chief revenue and marketing officer for the Olympic sports organization.

Judelson brings an 18-year background of success, most recently as chief marketing officer for Sports Illustrated Group, as well as eight years with the National Hockey League, where he rose to senior vice president of corporate sales and marketing. He also worked closely with the USSA while a manager of corporate sponsorships and events for Sprint in the mid '90s.

"Over the years our athletes have benefited from a strong sales and marketing effort that has provided revenue for athletic programs and great awareness of our U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding brands," said Marolt. "With the recent success of our athletes in Vancouver, the USSA is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this opportunity through a dramatic and innovative structural change in our approach to revenue production and marketing."

The creation of the position is a part of a planned transition by the USSA after 12-year veteran Ted Morris, who headed the area since 2002 as vice president, sales and marketing, decided last year to make a career change following the Olympic season.

"Ted has been an outstanding steward of our brands," said Marolt. "His leadership through several economic downturns has been vital to our ability to fund athletic programs and help our athletes achieve the success they enjoyed in Vancouver."

Judelson's career has been hallmarked by his ability to capitalize on opportunities to both create awareness of sports properties and to generate incremental revenue. In his new role, he will be responsible for all of the USSA's revenue production outside of the Foundation's private giving programs. He will also oversee communications, public relations and events as well as traditional and digital media, social media and mobile, and other projects to market the USSA's brands.

"In creating this broad new role in our company, we sought someone who had deep experience in traditional marketing plus the spirit and creativity to take advantage of new media," said Marolt.

"The U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding are premier sports brands," said Judelson. "Through our marquee athletes and major events we will continue building those brands while developing new properties, platforms, and partner specific solutions to extend them to the 18 million recreational skiers and snowboarders to both drive incremental revenue to fund athletes and to help grow the sport."

Judelson will bring a track record of success in development of digital channels for partners and sees opportunities for the USSA's brands to serve as more of a voice or portal for skiing and snowboarding. "The key is to leverage our athletes, their unprecedented success and existing portfolio of assets and while developing new, innovative digital, social and mobile channels," he said.

A passionate skier, Judelson received a Bachelor of Arts in Politics with a concentration in Russian studies at Rollins College. He went on to earn a Masters in Business Administration with a focus in marketing from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in 1992. He and his wife and two sons are looking forward to moving to Park City where he will start work in May at the USSA Center of Excellence.

Morris, who came to the USSA in 1998 from BBDO New York, will leave in mid-May. "Working in one of the world's most significant Olympic sports organizations has been an amazing experience," he said. "I'm proud of the direction we've established in marketing our brands, the value we've returned to our partners and, most of all, the opportunities we've provided for our great athletes. Each of our partners was very much a part of the success our athletes achieved in Vancouver."